Markets retain the gains with the help of consumer durables and power stocks

Markets are retaining their gains in late morning session, with key benchmarks holding their psychological levels of 26900 (Sensex) and 8100 (Nifty) following the decent pullback rally. Apart from the positive global cues after a dovish statement from the Fed chief, the domestic development has supported the markets to sustain the early leads. The Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill for its tabling in the current session of Parliament, as the Centre aims to get the Constitutional Bill passed in the Budget session. The rupee strength too was aiding to the positive sentiments of the market, as after three sessions of weakness, the rupee strengthened by 40 paise to 63.21 against the dollar in early trade. Back on street, broader indices are outperforming the benchmarks with a big margin. All the sectoral indices continue to trade in cheerful mood, led by consumer durables and power. In non sectoral index, sugar was buzzing since morning on report that sugar production upto December 15, 2014, stood at 42.25 lakh tonnes, about 13.5 lakh tonnes more than the production upto the corresponding period in the last sugar season of 28.77 lakh tonnes. Bajaj Hindusthan and Shree Renuka gained around 5%, Balrampur Chini was up by 4%, while EID Parry was up by about 3%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26919.31, up by 209.18 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 26919.31 and 27105.80. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.96%, while Small cap index surged by 2.35%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.68%, Power up by 1.88%, INFRA up by 1.63%, Capital Goods up by 1.54%, Metal up by 1.47%

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 3.81%, GAIL India up by 3.73%, Tata Power up by 2.99%, Hindalco up by 2.95% and ICICI Bank up by 2.26%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.80%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.74%, HDFC down by 0.45%, Wipro down by 0.42% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an encouraging development for the country, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reported that India was well on track of achieving projected 5.5% economic growth rate in 2014-15 as declining oil prices presented the country with golden opportunity for undertaking many beneficial reforms. Falling global oil prices present a golden opportunity for importers like Indonesia and India to reform their costly fuel subsidy programmes.

The Manila-based agency pointed that the target of 5.5% economic growth was well possible after the country registered growth of 5.7% in the first quarter and 5.3% in the second quarter. It emphasized that growth outlook remained steady despite slowed momentum in second half of 2014 and also there were chances of India achieving 6.3% next year, provided Narendra Modi’s government continues with its reform drive.

Further, the agency acknowledged the efforts taken by the Indian government to tackle contentious reforms by eliminating diesel subsidies, but at the same time urged them to extend its efforts to reach the forecast of 6.3% GDP growth in FY2015.

However, the agency in its report titled ‘Cheap Oil Can Benefit Asia’ lowered the GDP growth projection for Asia pacific region to 6.1% in 2014, from 6.2% earlier, and to 6.2% in 2015, from 6.4% earlier.

The ADB also slashed its 2014 and 2015 growth forecasts for China to 7.4% and 7.2%, respectively, from the 7.5% and 7.4% estimates made in September, due to falling property prices and the spillover effects on the construction sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8088.25, up by 58.45 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 8087.35 and 8151.50. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 3.88%, GAIL India up by 3.72%, Jindal Steel & Power up by 3.45%, Hindalco up by 3.09% and Tata Power up by 3.06%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.19%, Grasim Industries down by 1.03%, BPCL down by 0.92%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.87% and Power Grid Corpn down by 0.76% were the top losers.

All the major Asian markets were trading in green barring and KOSPI Index which was down by 5.04 points or 0.27% to 1,895.12. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was up by 7.97 points or 0.26% to 3,068.99, Straits Times was higher by 8.38 points or 0.26% to 3,235.61, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 20.3 points or 1.21% to 1,702.20, Taiwan Weighted moved higher by 52.54 points or 0.6% to 8,880.90, Jakarta Composite added 56.56 points or 1.12% to 5,092.21, Hang Seng was up by 161.03 points or 0.71% to 22,746.87 and Nikkei 225 surged 375.03 points or 2.23% to 17,194.76.